Too many people are being left waiting for taxicabs to shuttle them on short yet vital trips around town, and that has some members of the Metropolitan Transit System calling for changes.

RONI GALGANO / Union-Tribune

Irene Bylandt, 85, outside her Kearney Mesa senior citizens' apartment complex, said taxicabs won't pick her up because they cannot make money on short trips she takes to go shopping.

San Diego City Council member Toni Adkins, a member of the transit agency's board of directors, said it has been an issue for years but recent disclosures that cabs often disregard calls for short rides or leave people waiting an hour or longer have prompted her to seek assurances from the companies that the practice will stop.

Finding a solution isn't going to be simple.

"It's a balancing act," she said. "We need to ensure that service is provided, while at the same time seeing that drivers and cab companies make a living."

This week, members of the transit agency's taxicab advisory committee will begin wrestling with how to improve service for people who depend on taxis for short trips.

The committee chairman, San Diego City Council member Brian Maienschein, said he wants the committee to identify the extent of the problem and find solutions.

Taxi issues

The taxicab advisory committee will meet at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the Metropolitan Transit System's East Village headquarters, 1255 Imperial Ave.

"We have to work with the taxi companies to make sure that the needs of their passengers are being met," said Maienschein, also a member of the agency's board of directors.

The 17-member taxi advisory committee is made up of representatives of taxi companies, drivers, transit agency staff and local government officials. Its role is to review issues and make recommendations to the agency's board on taxicab regulation.

The issue surfaced after 36 people complained to the agency last month following a story in The San Diego Union-Tribune highlighting the frustration of people who say taxis ignore their calls for rides from neighborhood grocery stores to home.

"We've been hearing this for some time and it's gotten to the point that we need to address the issue," said Adkins, who represents a number of midcity neighborhoods whose residents have complained about poor taxi service.

One of the first things Adkins wants the transit agency to do is firmly remind the cab companies that they are obligated to provide rides to people no matter how far.

She said she doesn't want the agency to hammer the cabbies because she acknowledges short trips usually are not profitable for drivers, a significant economic issue that must be considered.

She suggests one way to compel cab companies to provide better service may be in how the transit agency assigns permits, which determines how many cabs a company can put on the streets.

If a company consistently fails to pick up people for short trips, Adkins proposes one solution is to cut back the number of permits issued to that company. Another idea is to promote better neighborhood taxi service by allotting a certain number of permits to either small or start-up companies that pledge to make neighborhood service a priority.

Adkins said she understands the hardscrabble nature of the taxi business in which drivers often work six days a week to clear between $200 and $800 after expenses.

Cab companies have acknowledged that some calls for short trips go unanswered, saying drivers can't make a profit and frequently lose money when they do pick up passengers for trips of a few miles or less. Another factor is that there are often no cabs on call in some neighborhoods outside of downtown San Diego.

From Point Loma to Clairemont to La Mesa, taxi passengers are fuming, saying their calls for cabs are ignored or the wait is unduly long when the drivers hear they are being dispatched for a short trip.

East Clairemont resident Irene Bylandt, 85, a feisty senior with a sharp British accent, is not afraid to speak her mind when she's peeved.

And is she steamed.

"I'll call and they won't come. The service is lousy," she said. "Maybe if I tell 'em I'll kiss 'em on the cheek, they'll come."

There was a time when Bylandt could walk the mile or so to the little neighborhood store for her little bit of shopping. But not anymore. She depends on taxicabs to get around.

Mission Hills physician Jaime Arroyo has given up trying to get a cab for a lift to the airport or nearby social functions.

Arroyo said he's been left waiting time after time, waits that have resulted in mad dashes to the airport in his own car.

He's convinced his calls are ignored because the $10 fare isn't enough to trouble a cabdriver. When he lived in Talmadge, he said he never had a problem getting a cab for a $35 trip to the airport.

"A plentiful and efficient taxi service is a hallmark of any major city," Arroyo wrote to the transit agency following the Union-Tribune's story last month. "All callers should have the right to equal service."

Before transit officials will get involved in complaints over cab service, they ask that people making the complaints try to resolve the dispute with the cab company first, transit agency spokeswoman Judy Leitner said. If the passenger is not satisfied with the company's response, the agency will intervene and invite the company to explain what happened and why it believes its solution was fair, she said.

So far, none of the 36 people who complained have returned to the agency asking that it get involved, though Leitner said that may not be an indication that the complaints have been resolved yet. If it becomes necessary to take action, Leitner said the agency could issue anything from a reprimand to revoking a company's license. It could also not renew the driver's permit.